Display window



Oct. 30, 1928.

H. cl HARLAN ET AL DI SPLAY WINDOW Filed March 10. 1921 s Sheets-Shet 1ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1928. 1,689,872

H. c. HARLAN ET AL DI SPLAY WINDOW.

Filed March 10. 1 21 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

c. ,4? BY 1 1,689,872 H. c. HARLAN ET AL I Oct. 30, 1928.

DISPLAY'WINDOW 3.S heets-Sheet Filed March 16. 1921 I ENTOR. -.c.'[iffy/{ ATTO'RNEY Patented ea. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT? or E.

HLABO'LD'C. ANDWALTER JQZIMMERMKN, O'F DAYTON, OHIO,

DISPLAY- WINDOW;

Application filed-March 10, 1921. SeriaLNo. 451,398.

This invention relates to display windows for store rooms and'the like,

Theobject ot. the invention isto provide means for maintaining acontinuous display of merchandise in: a store window, Without the lossof time usually required to remove one display and retrim the, window.

A further object of the inventioniis tOfPlO vide such a. display windowwhich. will not encroach upon the floor spaceroiathe store room and willnot in any way. interfere-with' the normal activities in the'storeduring the trimming of the window.- v

A furtherobject of the invention is to i provide such a display Windowwhich will begdust prooi. V v A further object of the inventionus toprovide such a window which willjbe very.

simple in its construction and operation and which can be easilymanipulated to. change the'displays.

Other objects of as the mechanisinisdescribed in detail.

In theaccompanyiing drawings Fig 1' is a front elevation ofa portion ofa store front, partly broken away to'sh ow the display compartments andoperating mecha'. nisnr for the window; Fig. 2 is a sectional View takenvertically through a display window embodying the invention and broken.away to show theoperating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalView taken on the line 3'3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of thearrows; Fig. 4 is-a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 ofFig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig; 5 is a sectionaldetaihviewof the dust proof joints for the compartments.

In these drawings we have illustrated one embodiment of our inventionand have shown the same" as comprising a plurality of displaycompartments arranged one above the other and mounted. for verticalmovement to enable thecompartments to be moved alternately into linewith the window opening. By arranging the compartments one" above theother the window occupies no more floor space than: does the ordinarydisplay window and because of the vertical movement ot the compartmentsthe idle (20m partment will lie either below the floorso that it will beaccessible from the basement.

for the purpose of removing and inserting the display or it will lieabove the J level of the window opening and, therefore, in the theinvention 'will appear upper portion ofthe store room where access canbe had to it means of. a platform or balconyfor removinguor inserting.the display. The arrangement of the compartments may take various formsand they may be moved into and out of display positions in various waysand it will be understood that the particular embodiment hereillustratedhas been chosen for the purpose oit illustration only.

.In that form of the invention here illustrated we have shown the sameas installed in a store room having the usual floor 1 and ceiling 2 andprovided in its outer Wall with. a Window, opening, for sight opening,'3, through which the displaymay be. viewed from the exteriorotthebuilding, and this sight opening of a height much less than.

the height of the ceiling, the opening being usually not more than halfthe height of the ceiling. The space between the top of the sightopeningfand the ceiling may be closed in. any suitable manner, as by acol ored or ground glass, as shown, at Arranged in the rear of the sightopening 3.is

a plurality of displaycompartments, 5 and.

6, arranged one above the other and each complete in itself. Eachcompartment is of a size substantially equal to the size of the sightopening and isopen. onits forward side only so that its contents can beviewed through the sight opening. These tn-ocom; V

partments are mounted for movement alter nately lntoand out of linewitlithe sight opening so that whileone' compartment is in,

display position theother can betrimmed Preferably the two compartmentsare rigidly connected one tothe other and arem mnted for movement in avertical line'so that they will move successively into andout of disitis provided on each side with two or more pairs of angle bars 8arrangedfback to back and spaced apart to form guide ways" to receiveflanges 9: of guide strips rigidly secured Ice to the wall of the mainguideway or shaft. The angle bars 8 extend from top to bottom of thestructure and serve not only as guides but also serve to rigidly tietogether the upper and lower parts of the structure and to impartsufficient rigidity to the structure as a whole, so that other bracingis unneces sary. Further, the interlocking guides and guideways 8 and 9form barriers which prevent the passage of dust about the sides ofthe'compartments. I

To further prevent dust. entering the compartments, particularlythe onethat is on display, the front wall of the shaft, or main guideway, isprovided at the upper and lower edges of the sight opening withinwardlyextending flanges or sealing mcm-, hers 10 and l0, which arehere shown as rigid projections each having a covering of flexiblematerial, such as felt, and which are adapted to he engaged by the topand bottom walls of the compartment which is on display and thus formdust proof joints at these points. The sealing members are arrangedbetween the top and bottom walls of the respectivecompartments and areso positioned that when the lower compartment is in display position thebottom wall of that connaartment will engage the lower sealing member10, as shown in full lines in F ig. 2, and in dotted lines in Fig. 5,and the bottom wall of the upper compartment will engage the uppersealing member 10, as shown in Fig. 2. Then the'upper compartment is indisplay position the top wall of the lower compartment will engage thelower sealing member 10, as shown in Fig. 5, and the top wall oftheupper compartment will engage the upper sealing member 10. Inthismanner the compartment which is on display is made dust proof andthe compartment may he moved from one position to the other without thenecessity'of the top or-bottom walls thereof passing the sealingmembers. L p

The display structure may be supported in the shaft or guide way 7 andmovement imparted thereto in any. suitable manner, but it is desirablethat this be accomplished in such a way as to avoid the necessity ofmounting the supporting or operating mechanism on the top of thestructure as it would there interfere, in some cases, with the elevationof the structure to the desired height, it being understood that theupward movement of the structure is usually definitely limited by theceiling of the room in which it is mounted. We have, therefore, mountedon each side of the shaft, or main guideway, 7 a plurality of sheaves orpulleys 11 about which extend cables 12. One end of each cableisconnected with the outer wall of the display structure between the upperand lower ends thereof and, in the present instance, the structure isprovided with angle quently, when free to move, this structure will movedownwardly of its own accord but its movement will be sloivand easilycontrolled. The downward movement of the display structure is controlledand upward movement imparted thereto bymeans of other cables'lbconnected with the respec tiveweights let, extending downwardly aboutdrums 17 arranged in the basement ofthe' store room and thence'to a drum18, wh ch is here shown mounted on a vertical shaft 19 to the upper endof which is secured a worm wheel 20 meshing with a worm 21 mounted on ashaft 22 which extends through one of the'walis of the main guide way,or shaft, and is provided with al1andle,'or crank, 23 by means ofwhichThe worm and wormwheel not only provide a very simple and easilyopera-ted mechanism for actuatin the may be operated.

display structure but they "also provide an automatic lock as the wormcannot be rotated by pressure of the worm wheel. If-

desired, the shaft, or main guideway, may be provided with locks 24 topositively'secure the compartments in display hen the upper compartmentG is in display position'the' lower compartment will project below'thefloor 1- of the store room and will be readily accessible from thebasement for the purpose of removing the old display and placing the newdisplay in position th erein, itb'eing understood that thecompartposition.

ment itself and the inner wall of the shaft are provided with doorsthrough which this access may be had, as shown at'QG andQ'T,respectively, in Fig. 3. hen the lower compartment is moved into displayposition the upper compartment will. lie in the upper end of the shaftnear the ceiling of the store room and in order that accessmay bereadily had thereto we prefer to provide a platform, or balcony, 25arranged alongthe inner wall of the shaft on substantially the level ofthe floor of the upper compartment so that access may be readily hadthereto. This balcony, or platform, being arranged above the sightopening of the window will, of course, be above the head level of thestore room and will not interfere in anyway with the, movements ofpersonsin the store or withflthe placing of display cases, or countersalong the inner wall of the display window. Preferably that portion ofthe shaft inline with the sight opening of the Window has no openingtherein as it is not usually desired to enter the shaft or the displaycompartmen ts from the floor of the store.

The operation of the device will be readily.

understood from the foregoing description thereof and it will beapparent that we have provided a display window of such a character thatmerchandise can be maintained continuously on display therein, the onlylost time being the very short interval required to shift thecompartments to move one of them'out of display position and the otherinto display position. Vhile this may be accomplishedvery easily themovement is slow and steady and the compartment with the new displaywill be brought intoits'dis play position without jar or jolt, whichmight tend to displace either the mechandise or the display cards whichhave been placed therein. The arrangement and manner of shifting thedisplay compartments is such that the window does not encroach'in anyway upon the floor space of the store room and does not interfere withthe normal activities within the store room. Further, the display windowis of such a character that that compartment which is out of displayposition can be trimmed without interfering with the normal activitiesin the store room because in the (one instan"e it is trimmed from thebasement and in the other instance More.

it istrimmed from the balcony 25. over, it will-be apparent that thedevice is exceedingly simple in its construction and inexpensive ofinstallation and, further, that it can be easily installedin existingbuildings without necessitating any material.

modification therein. The display compartments are so nearlycounterbalanced by the weights 14 that they are easily moved by handpower through the worm gearing described, but it will be obivous that ifit should be desired a motor or other power mechanism may be utilizedfor shifting the structure from one position to another.

lVhile we have shown and described one embodiment of our invention wewish it to be understood that we do not desire to be limited to thedetails thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilledin the art.

Having now fully described our invention natures hereto.

2. In a'display'window having asight opening, a closed housing arrangedin the rear of sad open ng, extending above and below the same, astructure mounted for vertical movement in said housing and having aplurality of display compartments adapted to be moved alternately intoand out of line .with said sight opening, sheaves mounted on the sidewalls of said housing, cables extending about the respective sheaves andeach connected with said structure between the ends thereof, weights onthe opposite sides of said structure, connected with the respectivecables, a drum mounted on the lower portion of said housing, cablesconnected with the respectlve weights, and passing about-said drum, andmeans for actuating said drum. v a

3. In a display window having a sight opening, a closed'housing arrangedin'the rear of said opening, extending above and aelow the same, astructure mounted for vertical movement in said housing and having aplurality of display compartments adapted to be moved alternately intoand out of line with said sight opening, sheaves mounted on the sidewalls of said housing, cables extending about the respective sheaves andeach connected with said structure between the ends thereof, weights onthe op posite sides of sald structure-connected with the-respectivecables, a drum mounted. in the lower portion of said housing, cablesconnected with the respective weights and passing about said drum a wormwheel connected with said drum, a worm meshing with said worm wheel, andmeans for rotating said worm. i

In testimonywhereof, we afliX our sig- I HAROLD o. HARLANJ WALTER J.ZIMMERMAN.

